Violent crime up in Queen City, CMPD responds with new effort

CHARLOTTE, NC (WJZY) - Alarming new numbers from CMPD show crime in charlotte is up in nearly every category. That includes violent crime, which has increased by almost 17 percent compared with this time last year, and property crime increased by 13.7 percent.

According to the department, because of growth in the city, they've also responded to 11,000 more calls in recent months over last year.

Homicides are down 41 percent. Reported robberies had an increase of 21%, rapes increased 2.7 percent, and aggravated assaults had an increase of 17.1 percent.

Deputy Chief Jeff Estes said, “To me, it seems as if people are settling their disputes via the gun, and we want to make sure we do everything to take all illegal guns off the streets.”

Starting Monday, CMPD will increase its efforts to target violent crime throughout the summer.

The department believes illegal guns are part of the problem, so they'll be working to get those off the streets and also pushing their resources toward high-crime areas.